World Series of Poker Circuit Bicycle Casino Main Event Begins Jan. 12

The ninth stop of the 2012/2013 World Series of Poker Circuit presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof recently kicked off at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, featuring 12 ring events. This weekend, PokerNews will be providing live coverage of the $1,675 Main Event. But before that event gets under way, we'll take a look back at the events that have already concluded at the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino.

Among the tournaments already in the books is Event #5 $585 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 157 entries to create a prize pool of $78,500. After two days of play, Nathan Bjerno, who was playing in just his second WSOP Circuit event ever, emerged victorious to claim the gold ring and accompanying $21,180 first-place prize.

Bjerno, 24, managed to dominate the final table and finish off his opponents in 150 minutes, well shy of the 6.5-hour average of WSOP Circuit final tables. One of those opponents, WSOP Circuit ring winner Alex Bylicki, finished in fourth; and another ring winner, Jason Coon, missed out on the final table by just one spot when he was eliminated in tenth place.

Here’s what the WSOP had to say about Bjerno, a semiprofessional poker player originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, who now lives in California:

“Even though he knocked out few opponents until the very end, Bjerno was the beneficiary of a couple of key hands that kept him out of the danger zone. He made a full house on his final hand, which guaranteed the victory. Zachary Fahmie finished as the runner-up. Bjerno is a semi-professional poker player. He plays part time, but does take the game very seriously. Prior to the events of Black Friday, Bjerno was mostly an online player. Now, he plays some live games and perhaps only two to three tournaments each month. Last year, Bjerno enjoyed a big break when he won six figures in a major tournament held in Los Angeles. He's kept most of that money, due largely to a patient approach to the game and a great amount of personal discipline.”

“Bjerno admits that he's not sure what direction he'll go in life. He says poker is working out well, but, at the same time, has no illusions that life as a professional poker player is either automatic or easy. To the contrary. Bjerno seems content to take everything one day at a time. And this was a very good day. This tournament produced one of the more interesting finales of the series. The final table included an eclectic mix of players. Two golf professionals, three Canadians, and two females made up the motley crew. All that was missing was a partridge in a pear tree.”

Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino events completed thus far:

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	273	$81,900

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Clark Harney	Newhall, CA	$19,660
2	Chad Bruhn	Tempe, AZ	$12,145
3	Jordan Cristos	Palmdale, CA	$8,815
4	Kristin Weeks	Crandall, TX	$6,505
5	Kent Keilholtz	Orange, CA	$4,873
6	Amir Ghazvinian	Reseda, CA	$3,715
7	Robert McVeigh	Huntington Beach, CA	$2,875
8	Stephen Rivera	Northridge, CA	$2,260
9	Robert Lundin	Lancaster, CA	$1,805

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #2 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$80	167	$83,500

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Wendy Freedman	San Francisco, CA	$22,545
2	Tom Masinter	Dublin, CA	$13,935
3	William Steffin	Los Angeles, CA	$10,030
4	Sam Barnhart	Little Rock, AR	$7,350
5	Mark Yamamoto	Monterey Park, CA	$5,485
6	Michael Noori	Tarzana, CA	$4,160
7	Matthew Weber	Sacramento, CA	$3,210
8	Savino Nunez	Firebaugh, CA	$2,520
9	Ryan Riess	East Lansing, MI	$2,010

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #3 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	723	$216,900

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	David Yoon	Los Angeles, CA	$43,340
2	Daniel Schunk	Santa Monica, CA	$26,745
3	Kent Keilholtz	Orange, CA	$19,715
4	Rod Dingler	Temecula, CA	$14,695
5	Barbara Enright	Hollywood, CA	$11,100
6	Chris Roulier	Burbank, CA	$8,490
7	Richard Munro	Sherman Oaks, CA	$6,580
8	Julie Dang	Rosemead, CA	$5,160
9	Min So	Federal Way, WA	$4,095

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #4 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	198	$59,400

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Amir Ghazvinian	Reseda, CA	$15,440
2	Oscar Zavala	Bakersfield, CA	$9,540
3	Stephen Elliott	Tri-Cities, WA	$6,890
4	Nathan Brady	Chino, CA	$5,060
5	George Mosher	Riverside, CA	$3,780
6	Hung Bui	Irvine, CA	$2,870
7	Cludo Georgiadis	Valley Village, CA	$2,220
8	Trevor Deeter	Philadelphia, PA	$1,740
9	Daku Ogawa	Los Angeles, CA	$1,390

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #5 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$80	157	$78,500

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Nathan Bjerno	Corona, CA	$21,180
2	Zachary Fahmie	Las Vegas, NV	$13,100
3	Jason Tulloss	Arlington Heights, IL	$9,430
4	Alex Bylicki	Vancouver, BC, Canada	$6,910
5	Lily Newhouse	Middletown, PA	$5,155
6	Thomas Beckstead	Temecula, CA	$3,910
7	Clark McKay	Prince Albert, SK, Canada	$3,020
8	Damien Leforces	Bellflower, CA	$2,370
9	Justine Roders	Richland, WA	$1,890

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #6 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	193	$57,900

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Michael Taylor	Chandler, AZ	$15,050
2	Stephen Rivera	Northridge, CA	$9,300
3	David Pecaski	Vancouver, BC, Canada	$6,715
4	Michael Quick	Torrance, CA	$4,930
5	Daniel Illingworth	Carlsbad, CA	$3,685
6	Jose Marcal	Thousand Oaks, CA	$2,800
7	Shaun Abkarian	La Verne, CA	$2,165
8	Alan J. He	Vancouver, BC, Canada	$1,700
9	Daniel Gilmer	Ashland, OH	$1,355

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #7 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$1,000+$125	157	$157,000

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Raymond Henson	Houston, TX	$42,390
2	Everett Carlton	St. Paul, MN	$26,195
3	Jason Leet	Miami, FL	$18,855
4	Derrick Yamada	Sacramento, CA	$13,820
5	Shawn Daniels	Wayne, PA	$10,310
6	Simon Samano	Gonzales, CA	$7,825
7	Michael Nia	Calabasas, CA	$6,040
8	Pogos Simityan	Glendale, CA	$4,735
9	Mack Lee	Los Angeles, CA	$3,775

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #8 Omaha Eight or Better

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	177	$53,100

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Stephen Gibbs	Ontario, CA	$14,350
2	Larry Siegel	Glendale, CA	$8,860
3	Marshall Ragir	Los Angeles, CA	$6,380
4	James Manning	Waco, TX	$4,675
5	Greg Dinkin	N/A	$3,485
6	Dale Beaudoin	Las Vegas, NV	$2,645
7	Gioi Luong	Westminster, CA	$2,040
8	Tony Phan	Tucson, AZ	$1,600
9	Michael Noori	Tarzana, CA	$1,280

WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Ring Event #9 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	212	$63,600

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Alex Masek	San Diego, CA	$15,905
2	William Fagerbakke	Topanga, CA	$9,825
3	Jason Tulloss	Arlington Heights, IL	$7,150
4	Keith Rogers	Los Angeles, CA	$5,290
5	Brian Gorman	Los Angeles, CA	$3,975
6	Jose Franco	Santa Ana, CA	$3,030
7	Jim Hoff	Los Angeles, CA	$2,345
8	William Leffingwell	Tyler, TX	$1,845
9	Anselmo Villarreal	Greenfield, WI	$1,470

With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Champion is undetermined. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. Here's a look at the players who have qualified:

National Championship Qualifiers

Player	Qualified
Jonathan Chehanske	Harrah’s Rincon Main Event Champion
Valentin Vornicu	Harrah’s Rincon Casino Champion
Adam Teasdale	Harrah’s Atlantic City Main Event Champion
Brandon Fish	Harrah’s Atlantic City Casino Champion
Cary Marshall	Harveys Lake Tahoe Main Event Champion
Daniel Gilmer	Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino Champion
John Crncic	River Rock (Vancouver) Main Event Winner
Sandra Wong	River Rock (Vancouver) Casino Champion
Josh Williams	Horseshoe Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Winner
Mike Leah	Horseshoe Hammond Casino Champion
Dan Heimiller	Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event Winner
Jonathan Taylor	Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champion
Quan Nguyen	Bossier City Casino Champion
Jeff Gibralter	Bossier City Main Event Champion
Kyle Cartwright	IP Biloxi Main Event Winner
Cory Wood	IP Biloxi Casino Champion

In addition to the qualifiers, players who earn enough points on the National Leaderboard will be able to buy in to the National Championship:

WSOPC National Leaderboard Top Ten*

Player	Points	Rings	Cashed	Earnings
Rex Clinkscales	167.5	0	7	$38,368
Yossi Azulay	165	0	12	$79,218
Charles “Woody” Moore	150	0	7	$46,997
Caufman Talley	142.5	2	5	$82,963
Aaron Massey	142.5	1	5	$55,252
Carter Myers	125	1	6	$49,713
Donna Delfin	112.5	1	3	$26,908
Ashly Butler	112.5	1	4	$25,415
Ari Engel	105	1	4	$68,762
Trevor Deeter	105	1	6	$33,098

*Entering the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino stop.

Here's a look at the remaining schedule for the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit:

Date	Event Location
Jan. 10-21, 2013	Choctaw Durant (Dallas/Oklahoma)
Jan. 24 - Feb. 4, 2013	Harrah’s Tunica (Mississippi)
Feb. 7-18, 2013	Caesars Palace (Las Vegas)
Feb. 14-25, 2013	Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida)
Feb. 28 - March 11, 2013	Caesars Atlantic City
March 14-25, 2013	Horseshoe Cleveland
March 27 - April 8, 2013	Foxwoods (Connecticut)
April 4-15, 2012	Harrah’s Cherokee (North Carolina)
April 11-April 22, 2013	Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa)
April 25 - May 6, 2013	Harrah’s Philadelphia
May 9 - May 20, 2013	Harrah’s New Orleans
May 21-23, 2013	Harrah’s New Orleans (National Championship)

For more information on the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit season, visit WSOP.com. Also, be sure to follow our live updates from the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino in our Live Reporting Section.

*Photos courtesy of WSOP.com.

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